Track-brake for railways



(No Model.)

5. STORY.

Y Y TRACK BRAKE FOR EAILWAYS. No. 463,005. Patented Nov. 10,1891

IllHllll-Iu-III- I WITNESSES} I v ENTOHr 44M *3 @MM BY g g M .5214 L ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN STORY, OF LONACONING, MARYLAND.

TRACK-BRAKE FORRAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 463,005, dated November 10, 1891.

Application filed March 13, 1891.

all the cars, and it is in the nature of a brake.

located along the track-rails and adapted to clamp the edges of the wheels as they pass along, so as to retard the momentum of the car or stop it altogether. The need for such a device exists in transferring coal from the mine-cars to shipping-cars or to dumps located below, and also in weighing cars in transit where it is desired to stop or arrest their speed as they go by, or to hold cars while being coupled or uncoupled on an inclined plane.

Figure 1 is a planview, and Fig. 2 is a ver tical transverse section.

In the drawings, A A represent the railroad-rails supported upon the cr'ossties B after the manner of the ordinary railway-tracks, and forming the continuation of a track leading from a mine to a dump or elsewhere for transferring coal, ore, &c., or being a part of a section of track used for weighing cars.

Each rail is provided along its length with horizontal brake-bars C D of a length of thirty feet, more or less. These bars may be made of wood faced with iron; butI have found that old worn-out rails turned over upon their sides, so that their bases form the brake-surfaces, can be used to great advantage. Of the bars 0 D those marked C are upon the outside of the rails and those marked D are upon the inside. They. are placed at such an elevation above the track that the lower edges of these brake-bars are just on a level with the top of the rails, as

shown in Fig. 2, so that when the bars 0 D are brought together they will pinch the wheels of the cars between them. These bars are all arranged parallel to the rails and have a parallel motion to or from the rails by means of swinging links 0, which are pivoted to a stationary bar G which is fixed immovably to the cross-ties of the track. The inner bars D have a similar parallel motion, and are connected by links D with a central fixed bar D To the movable brake-bars G D are attached pull-rods E, which extend along the track a suitable distance to the operator and are then attached to the arms E of a rockshaft E which has ahand-lever E by which the shaft may be rocked and the brake-bars made to clasp or release the Wheels of the cars, as may be desired. In order to cause the brake-bars to have a certain amount of automatic action, the ends of all the links which are adjacent to the rails are inclined or point toward the approaching cars, so that when the friction of the oar-wheels against the brake-bars commences to be exerted the thrust of the link will tend to throw the brakebars more tightly against the car-wheels; but this may be reversed. In order to make the brake-bars move as freely as possible, they are sustained upon transverse supports a as they move to and from the rails, and to prevent the said bars from jamming too tightly against the car-wheels the throw of said bars is limited by steps I), located at the ends of the bars.

In carrying out my invention springs may be introduced in the length of the pull-rods or at the arms of the rock-shaft to cause the bars to adapt themselves to variation in the thickness of car-Wheels, as shown in dotted lines at c, and springs may also be placed behind the brake bars to help throw them against the car-wheels, as shown in dotted lines at d. I furthermore do not confine myself to the two sets of brake-bars O D, as there may be a set for one rail only, or the outer ones 0 C may be used without the inner ones D D, or vice versa, or the outer set may be stationary and the inner ones movable, and vice versa.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. A track-brake for cars, consisting of one or more horizontal brake bars arranged beside the rail and just above the same, and means for throwing it against the sides of the car-wheels, substantially as shown and described.

C and D, stationary bars C D the pullrods E, rock-shaft E with arms E, and handlever E substantially as shown and described. 15

4. The combination, with the parallel-motioned brake-bar's, of the stops 1) for limiting their motion, substantially as shown and described.

JOHN STORY.

Witnesses:

MATTHEW H. J ONES, JOSEPH D. NICHOLS. 4 

